Hot off the press from The Hunting Report:


"John J. Jackson, III, of Conservation Force contacted The Hunting Report from the Dallas Safari Club Convention this morning with an urgent warning to safari operators and PHs arriving from Africa for the various hunting conventions. It seems US Customs and US Fish & Wildlife Service are targeting all arrivals from Africa for extensive luggage searches. The reason? It appears US officials are searching for any items made from CITES-listed species. It's reported that such items were seized from at least 12 different PHs.

"I suspect this arises from the CITES Standing Committee meeting last July when literature was circulated by the protectionists to the effect that the US was the largest importer of illegal ivory products," says Jackson. "I'll report more as I learn about it, but everyone needs to spread the word to their PH friends ASAP."

At this writing it was unclear whether officials were also confiscating personal jewelry items, such as elephant hair bracelets or amulets and charms made from leopard claws and other CITES animals. I will send another E-mail Extra Bulletin as soon as we have more details. - Barbara Crown, Editor."